Bill boosting solar energy development gets OK from Iowa Senate panel

Iowa’s investor-owned electrical utilities would be required to provide their customers 105 megawatts of solar energy under a bill that cleared an Iowa Senate subcommittee Monday.

Senate File 2107 would revise a current law that requires utilities to provide 105 megawatts of renewable energy, including electricity generated by wind and other alternative energy sources. The proposed legislation is specifically aimed at bolstering the state’s solar energy industry because there has already been “extraordinary development of wind energy,” said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City.

He said the legislation would require utilities to produce the solar energy or buy it from others in Iowa.

Some lobbyists questioned the legislation, saying provisions in the bill appear to be attempting to decide an Iowa Supreme Court case involving Eagle Point Solar of Dubuque in which oral arguments have already been held.

Tim Dwight, president of the Iowa Solar/Small Wind Energy Trade Association, spoke in support of the legislation. He said the cost of solar energy is dropping on a monthly basis and it is becoming a mainstream method of generating electricity.

The bill advances to the Senate Commerce Committee. Bolkcom called the legislation a “work in progress” that he recognizes isn’t perfect, which means amendments could be offered when the committee considers the measure.